


The Colors of the Dawn

by HardNoctLife



Series: IgNoct Week 2019 - HardNoctLife [8]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind!Ignis, Blindness, Canon Universe, Character Death Fix, Conversations, Everybody Lives, Feelings, Fix-It, Friendship/Love, Gen, Happy Ending, Ignoct Week, Ignoct Week 2019, One Shot, because I said so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 14:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20154991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardNoctLife/pseuds/HardNoctLife
Summary: IgNoct Week 2019 Day 8: "Watching the dawn return together"After Noctis makes the ultimate sacrifice, Gladio and Prompto describe the dawn to Ignis.They are blessed with the most beautiful sight in recent memory.





	The Colors of the Dawn

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceFlorins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceFlorins/gifts).

[ ](https://ibb.co/4pcsW60)

“It’s still a little dark—blue and purple at the top—like, oh! You know, that shirt you used to wear all the time with the coeurl print,” Prompto murmured. There was a creak as the man shifted in his camping chair, and the crackle of fire as the embers fell in-between two crumbling logs. “The blue—it’s like the Vesperpool at night, that _deep _blue, almost black. And there are _stars_, Iggy. Lots of little diamonds.”

Ignis leaned his head back and inhaled the scent of smoke.

“What else?” he prodded.

“The sun’s peeking over the mountains,” Gladio said. His bass voice vibrated through Ignis’s chest, soothing. “It’s golden yellow, like Prompto’s hair—or chocobo feathers.” There was a chuckle. “You remember when Noct had us race around the Alstor Slough and the chocobos got spooked by the catoblepas?”

Prompto groaned. “Yeah, they bucked us into the water and Iggy spent all night getting the mud out of our clothes,” he lamented. Ignis couldn’t help but smile. He had shooed them off into the river to bathe, and they had come back shivering in only their underwear to huddle around the campfire.

“Above the gold is this _awesome_ orange. Like—man, I wish I had my camera.” Prompto paused. “It’s sorta like Cindy’s truck, that one she has parked at Hammerhead. Man, I wonder if they’re watching this right now. I miss hanging out at Takka’s diner. His fries were the best.”

“It’s because of all the grease,” Gladio joked, and there was a laugh from Prompto.

“We should go there next,” Ignis said, and it was quiet for a while, the only sound the kindling popping and snapping as it burned.

Gladio cleared his throat. “It’s getting redder now.” Ignis could _feel_ the sun on his face, and a sweet nostalgia flooded his chest, buried memories floating to the surface. “Reminds me of the engines on the Imperial airships.” There was a collective moan. “Gods, I’m glad we won’t see those again any time soon. We’ve fought more than our fair share of MTs.” Ignis heard Prompto make a noncommittal noise. “No offense, Prompto.”

“Don’t hold your breath. We have no idea what the dawn will bring,” Ignis tsked. Just because the Empire had been dormant during the Long Night, it didn’t mean it was gone for good.

There was a dreadful silence as they considered the possibility of Niflheim’s resurgence.

“We’ll make sure Lucis stays safe,” Prompto said adamantly. “We’ve fought too hard to stop now,” he added. Ignis noted the bitterness in the sharpshooter’s tone and felt his heart ache.

“There’s some cool green at the edges. Oh! The same shade as a malboro, don’t you think? Ugh, remember that awful one we all fought together in Fodina Mine?”

“How could we forget?” There was an edge to Gladio’s words. “That was right after Ignis went blind.”

“I remember you all fought like children,” Ignis stated matter-of-factly. He imagined Gladio and Prompto exchanged guilty looks at that. 

“But you brought us together,” Prompto said firmly, followed by a noise of agreement from the King’s Shield.

There was a short break in the conversation. “It looks more like tonberry green to me,” Gladio hummed.

“…huh. Minus the silver from their little knives.” They all chortled, remembering the many daemons they fought. 

The conversation lulled comfortably.

“Just above the warm colors and below the dark there’s a pale band that’s getting lighter,” Gladio went on. “It’s like…” he stopped, searching for an adequate comparison.

“Like Noct’s eyes,” Prompto whispered.

Ignis felt his throat constrict. _That_ was a vivid image he had never forgotten, even in over ten years without his sight.

“Yeah,” Gladio agreed gently.

“I wish he could see this.” Ignis recognized the tremor in Prompto’s voice, and he didn’t trust himself to speak. He could feel tears forming and tucked his chin to his chest, bowing his head. There was a chorus of sniffles, the mood plummeting.

“Maybe he can.” Gladio’s optimism went unanswered, the three men letting their minds wander.

The shadows behind Ignis’s eyelids grew lighter as the sun rose. Eventually, they could hear birdsong in the distance, Eos coming alive after a decade-long slumber.

“He really did it,” Prompto breathed.

The corner of Ignis’s mouth twitched up in a smile. “We all did.”

He almost didn’t register the soft crunch of grass behind him. After all, they hadn’t been expecting anyone. Outside of the Kingsglaive stationed in Insomnia, the majority of Lucians still remained in Lestallum or Hammerhead, so when the footfalls became clearer, Ignis perked up in alarm.

Acting on pure instinct, he jumped to his feet, finding the daggers at his side. He held them aloft in the direction of the noise, straining for Gladio and Prompto’s reactions.

Nothing.

“Prompto—Gladio—what is it?”

Still, nothing.

A bead of sweat trailed from the top of his temple to his chin, the tactician’s blood running cold with fear.

Ignis couldn’t hear his comrades’ breaths, and he assumed the unknown entity had incapacitated them. He wasn’t sure why he was spared, but they hadn’t seen Noctis fulfill his destiny only to die at the first sunrise, so the man assumed a defensive stance and prepared to fight.

Whatever it was, it was getting closer. “Stay back!” Ignis yelled, weapons at the ready. His muscles tensed as he listened. The footsteps ceased and he held the air in his lungs, unmoving.

“Ignis.”

The single word ripped through the blind man like a bullet and he felt his blades slip through his fingers to clatter on the ground by his feet.

Everything suddenly seemed louder now, a distinct ringing in his ears. He heard sharp intakes of breath on either side of him, a reassurance that Gladio and Prompto were alive after all, and just as shocked as he was.

“You’re…” he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. “Is this a dream?”

_Did we die after all?_

When two familiar, _warm_ hands came to cradle Ignis’s face, he nearly fell to his knees. Ignis’s quivering fingers rose like they were pushing through water, and he ran them over the backs of the newcomer’s knuckles, feeling the distinct weight of a ring—a ring he knew the engraving on like he knew his own skin. Following the curve of the person’s wrists, Ignis trailed his touch to their shoulders and up to their face, remembering every angle of the man’s jaw.

“Is it really you?” Ignis dared to hope, the warmth inside him now rivaling the sun’s rays.

“See for yourself,” came the familiar voice. Ignis’s brows furrowed, perplexed.

A moment later, he blinked, a strange flash of azure coloring the shadows beneath his eyelids. Blinking again in rapid succession, his vision came into focus for the first time in years, falling on the face of the One True King.

Hair as dark as night, eyes as light as dawn.

Ignis was too surprised to gasp, head swiveling in a slow revolution as he took in the scenery. Gladio and Prompto were half turned in their camping chairs, staring at the two of them in wonder, mouths hanging open. Ignis squinted as his head lifted to the sky, taking in the sun and the rainbow of colors that his friends had described.

“It’s beautiful,” Ignis exhaled softly. A firm hand gripped his shoulder and he turned to Noctis, a million feelings and thoughts rendering him speechless.

Noctis’s eyes reflected the light behind them, never leaving Ignis’s face.

“It is,” Noctis agreed. 

Ignis smiled so wide that it hurt, but it was the good kind of pain—like if you laughed too hard, or ate too much. Feelings he had nearly forgotten. Taking Noctis's hand in his, Ignis inclined his head as he had dreamed of doing countless times before during late nights when he had laid awake, reminiscing.

"Welcome home, Your Majesty." 

[](https://ibb.co/HqXs68j)

**Author's Note:**

> A special thank you to my friend and very talented artist, Ace Florins, for drawing sketches to accompany each of my IgNoct drabbles!
> 
> You can find all of her work on Tumblr and Twitter @aceflorins. Give her a follow for more quality content. 
> 
> Let me know which IgNoct week short was your favorite in the comments! You can also speak to me directly via Tumblr @hard-noct-life or Twitter @HardNoctLife.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
